


What Do You Desire, Doctor?

by jellybeansarecool



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Monsters, Time baby, Yaz saving the day, drugged sedation, escaped prisoner, or is there???, time child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-05 22:02:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19049308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellybeansarecool/pseuds/jellybeansarecool
Summary: The Doctor, Graham, Yaz, and Ryan land on a foreign planet. Unbeknownst to them, there is an escaped prisoner who has also chosen to use the planet as a hideout. With guards out to find the convict will team TARDIS return safely to their time ship or will the guards find a way to keep them contained?





	What Do You Desire, Doctor?

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea during one of my morning swims this week. Hopefully, it isn't too out of character for anyone, though I do see 13 as being a bit of an energizer bunny so she probably has a few too many exclamatory statements. Despite that, I hope that this is somewhat of an enjoyable read.

_With a quick flourish, the Doctor circled the final grade of the final paper for the semester. Placing his pen down with a soft ‘thunk’ he leaned back in his chair, his mind drifting to past papers and students. He thought of the passion and dedication, the selflessness and care, and the humility and compassion of those few students who continued to stay clear in his mind even as the years passed by. There were a few such students in his current classes. It was often because of them that he found the endurance to stay despite the challenges of the slow path and the unpredictability of Missy’s attitude._

_A small flicker of contentment warmed his belly._

_Just as he began to savour the feeling he heard the soft patter of footsteps accompanied by a small giggle from beyond his closed door. Sitting up with a frown he looked toward the door as it creaked open. At first, all he could see was a hand and then a small child came into view. She was perhaps three or four, her brown curls refusing to be held in place by two pigtails on either side of her head. Her green eyes spotted him and her face lit up with joy._

_“Daddy!” She cried, her shoes lighting up with every hurried step across his office floor._

_The Doctor smiled at the child and scooped her up and onto his lap. He pressed a kiss against her soft curls even as he looked again toward the doorway. There, framed by mahogany and looking as radiant as ever, stood his wife._

_“River!” His face couldn’t contain the smile that burst across it at the sight of her._

_“My love.” She smiled softly and walked into the room._

_Crossing quickly, she stooped to press a quick peck to his temple._

_“Hello Dear,” the Doctor said as he angled his face to give her a soft kiss._

_A creak of metal joints tore their attention from each other and onto Nardole. Nestled in his arms was a small babe bundled in blue. The only feature of the child that could be clearly seen was the black curls that poked over the edge of the blanket._

_“Ma’am. Sir.” The cyborg nodded to them both before placing the infant in River’s arms._

_The Doctor plucked his daughter from his lap and placed her gently on his desk. With a giggle, she clapped her hands and demanded some music._

_“Please,” said her father even as his eyes twinkled in delight._

_“Please!” She nodded vigorously._

_The small flicker of contentment that he had been feeling before burst into flame. He could feel the warm heat of it settling into his bones. The ancient Time Lord reached to grab his guitar with a smile at the joy that swam in his veins. It came from having his family by his side, and though he was loath to admit it, Nardole was a part of that family so as the small man turned to leave he breathed out a gruff command to stay._

_Holding back a chuckle, because of course she knew what he was thinking, River patted his shoulder. Reaching back to place his hand on hers he was alarmed to note that she was squeezing his shoulder frantically._

_“River?” He turned to look at her._

_“Doctor, you need to wake up.” She began to shake him, “Wake up Doctor!”_

“Doctor! Wake Up!” River’s voice melted away and changed into a younger, more northern voice. The hand that shook the Doctor’s shoulder was no longer River’s but a different hand. For a moment the Time Lord couldn’t figure out who the hand belonged to but all of a sudden, the feeling of not being able to move swept away the last mists of the dream. 

Cracking her eyes open, the Doctor looked up at the worried face of Yaz. 

“Oh God! Doctor! I thought I’d never be able to wake you!” Yaz frantically fumbled with the sonic screwdriver in her hands. 

“Why do you have my screwdriver?” the Doctor’s brow furrowed. 

“Don’t you remember? You gave it to me as those alien things tried to separate us. Ryan and Graham distracted them so that I could get away.” Her face distorted as she realized, “….I don’t know where they are.”

The Doctor gestured for the screwdriver with her hand before taking it from Yaz who was distracted with worry for her friends. 

With a few well-angled wrist movements the Doctor soon freed herself from her bonds. 

“How did you find me? Why was I tied up? And what,” she spun around to scan the IV bag that had previously been placing drugs into her body, she could only assume that Yaz had disconnected the bag which is why she was able to wake her, “is in this bag?” 

The smell of jam, crumpets, and apple shampoo wafted through the Doctor’s mind. She looked again at the IV bag but this time with longing. She would give almost anything to go back to that dream, back to her family… It had been like a snapshot of a time long lost, forgotten, or maybe hoped for.

“Doctor? Doctor!” Yaz shook her friend from her daze. “We have to find the others.” She looked closer at the Doctor’s face, there were tears in her eyes, “Wait. Are you ok?” 

Shaking her head as if to clear it the Doctor threw on a big smile, “Brilliant! Why wouldn’t I be? Still waking up, that’s all! Now, let’s find the rest of the team, gang… fam?” 

Yaz shook her head with a laugh and didn’t notice the Doctor glancing back at the IV bag one last time. 

“How do we find them?” 

“Computer!” 

“What?”

“There’s a computer in this room. If I can just hack the server I bet I can bring up a map of where Graham and Ryan are! I’m good at that. Well, I have been in the past – I’m sure I still am!” The Doctor threw another smile Yaz’s way. 

“Um ok. How do you think you’ll manage that?”

“Sonic!” The Doctor didn’t even turn to look this time as she lifted the screwdriver above her head before turning it towards the computer. 

Moments passed before the Doctor exclaimed, “Gotcha!” Smiling triumphantly she grabbed Yaz’s hand and pulled her out of the room and down the hall to where Yaz could only presume Ryan and Graham were being held. 

They stuck close to the walls, every so often the thunderous footsteps of their captors could be heard echoing through the hallways. Pressing her finger to her lips the Doctor signalled to Yaz to stay quiet as she cocked her head towards the door they were to go through. Nodding, Yaz followed, her muscles straining to control and refine every movement to be as quiet as possible. Just as they were about to reach the door Yaz glanced back and noticed two guards coming their way. Reaching out grabbing the Doctor’s arm she directed her friend’s gaze towards the two incoming beasts. Frown lines appeared on the Doctor’s forehead as she frantically looked around for a place to hide before hitting herself on the head and reaching behind her. 

“Oooof.” Yaz’s breath escaped her lungs as the Doctor pulled her into a small enclosed alcove. Pressed close together the two women held their breath as they waited for the sounds of heavy footsteps to fade. 

“We’re lucky they are such heavy creatures. What if they had been silent? Ooooo! The Silence, bad lot. Fought a war with them once. On the same side though, that was weird.” The Time Lord smiled at Yaz before pushing the door open slightly to make sure the coast was clear. 

Edging the door open slowly the Doctor and her young companion continued to make their way towards what they hoped was the room that their friends were being held in. Standing in front of the door, Yaz reached out to turn the door handle when the Doctor stopped her. Covering as much of her sonic to muffle the sound as possible the Doctor soniced the door. A soft ‘click’ alerted them that the lock had been disengaged. Glancing about the Doctor pushed the door open with the toe of her boot. 

The young police officer breathed a sigh of relief when her eyes rested on Ryan and Graham. 

“Yaz, keep watch!” 

The Doctor made her way over to Ryan first. Running the sonic over him and checking the readings she nodded happily to herself before disconnecting the IV. Like herself, both Graham and Ryan were hooked up to drips that were producing a dream-like state. Having detached the IV she moved onto freeing Ryan from his bonds. Satisfied that he was now free to wake up unhindered she moved onto Graham. 

After disconnecting and releasing Graham the blond looked up to her friend standing guard at the door. Receiving the all clear she turned her attention back to the oldest of her current three companions. Shaking him gently she endeavoured to wake him up. “Graham… Graham… Graham… Come on! You’ve got to wake up. This is no time for sleeping.” 

A tense few seconds passed before the ex-bus driver started to groan, “Grace?” he mumbled. 

“Oh Graham.” The Doctor whispered softly, “I’m sorry Graham, but it’s just me. The Doctor.”

Squinting up at her Graham nodded sadly. He lifted his hand up to rub his face before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. “Where are we? What are we doing here? Are those IVs? I never wanted to see those things again! Is that Ryan? Ryan! Son, wake up. Doc? Doc? Is he ok? What is going on?” Graham looked frantically at his guide and friend. He clutched Ryan’s hand in his own and patted it trying to get his grandson to wake up. 

The Doctor placed her hands on the man’s shoulders and gave a slight squeeze. With a smile, she turned to Ryan and saw that he was starting to move. 

“Ryan!” Graham smiled and bent over the young man, “Are you ok? How are you feeling son?”

“Grandad?” 

“Yes, it’s me.” Graham turned and smiled at the Doctor.

“Uhggh. What happened?” Ryan slowly sat up, “Graham, what’s going on?” 

“I’d wager the Doc can tell us.” Graham and Ryan turned expectantly towards the Time Lord. 

“Welllll. I can’t exactly say for certain. It seems to me though that there is something in these,” she poked a finger at the dangling bag, still half-filled, “that inhibits short term memory.” 

“What are you saying? That you were drugged too? Uhhgghh, I’m proper confused.” Ryan groaned again as he tried to stand up before stumbling, only to be caught by Graham. “I don’t need your help.” He pushed his grandfather away before stumbling and catching himself on the bed. With a frown, he lowered himself back onto the bed. 

“Sorry Ryan, it looks like the drugs are affecting your neuro-muscular control.” She reached out and conducted another quick scan, “It should be wearing off soon. Other than the memory loss it appears that whatever they had us on is quick to leave the system.”

“You keep talking about memory loss, does anyone know what’s going on?” Graham questioned, looking around at the faces of his companions. 

“Uhhh, no. Wait! Yes! Yaz,” The Doctor cried, “Yasmin Kahn. You weren’t drugged. You tell us what happened.” 

“Um, well, how far back do I need to go?”

“Just the capture – we’ll go from there.” 

“Ok. We were on this planet,” Yaz turned to the Doctor and pointed at her, “you promised us a beach and three suns and dolphins that could talk…”

“Oh! I love that planet. They have never-ending ice cream. Four hundred different flavours! Right… Sorry Yaz, go on.” 

“Like I said, you promised us beaches, sun, and dolphins but when we landed it was rock, trees, and escaped prisoners.” She glared at her friend. 

“Ohhhh. Sorry Fam.” 

“Anyway, those big alien beasts out there,” this time she pointed past the door, “found us instead of whoever they were looking for. The Doctor said she could help but when she said who she was they weren’t too keen.” 

“Then what happened?” Ryan asked. 

“Three of them grabbed us. One had the Doctor and the other two had us and Graham. We all got beamed up – like in Star Trek – onto this ship. You were struggling Doctor, saying something about being sick of getting imprisoned? Whatever, you can tell us later. They started to take us away and you slipped me your screwdriver before they took you in a different direction from us. Ryan and Graham saw and started to struggle. They distracted the guards which let me get away. I waited for a while before I started looking for you. And, well, you know the rest.” She finished with a shrug.

The Doctor frowned, thinking. Suddenly, she spun around, her coat flying out behind her. Marching towards the door she flung it open and planted herself in the middle of the hall. 

“Doctor?!?!” Her companions exclaimed in unison. 

“What are you doing?” Yaz hissed. 

“This is proper messed up.” Ryan groaned. 

“Doc? Doc! Are you mad?” 

The Doctor smiled back at her friends who had crowded the doorway, “So I’m told!”

Turning her attention back towards the hallway she called out to their captors. Within moments the loud sound of echoing foot beats filled the air. Slowing to a stop the creatures huffed down hot breaths onto the Doctor. Not moving an inch, she glared back up at them as if she matched their towering height. 

“Why did you drug me and my friends? I do not take nicely to being drugged!” 

The beast looked down at her. In a low booming voice it replied, “We know of you, the one called Time Lord. The bringer of darkness, the hand of the gods, or perhaps you are the god?”

“No! No. I’m just a traveller. I help out where I’m needed that’s all.” 

“Hmmm. Statement accepted. You were taken so that you would not interfere. Your actions are known to be unpredictable. We could not risk you preventing the capture of the notorious criminal, River Song.” 

The Doctor’s face went ashen, “What did you say?”

“We could not risk you preventing the capture of the notorious criminal, River Song.” 

“Did you get this River Song? Are we free to go?” Yaz asked. 

“Yaz!” Yaz grimaced at the Doctor’s reprimand. 

The creatures turned back to the Doctor. “No. She has continued to evade capture. But you must not fear. She will not remain free for long. She will be returned to the StormCage.” 

“That’s my girl.” The Doctor whispered to herself. 

“Please repeat the statement.” The creature’s voice continued to vibrate the air around the four time travellers. 

“Are we to be returned to the planet?”

“Yes. Reliable information suggests that River Song is off world. You may return to the planet.”

“Thank you, thank you.” Graham nodded to the two beasts that stood before them as he, Ryan, and Yaz stepped out of the room and stood behind the Doctor.

“And Doctor?” The creature paused before using the control device in its hand.

“Yes?” The Doctor replied.

“All the dreams that are created by the dreamscape are recorded. It is primarily used to sedate and contain criminals. As you and your friends are not here under charges you may request these recordings. Further, the dreamscape creates dreams that are prompted by your greatest desires, some that may even be hidden to yourself. This means that they can be dangerous. As you are not here under charges you may request that the recordings be destroyed. Do you have any requests before you are returned to the planet’s surface?”

The Doctor took a deep breath to calm her beating hearts, “I request the recordings of the dreams in the dreamscape of me and my friends. I also request that the remaining files be destroyed so that no evidence of these dreams remain.” 

“Your request is granted.” The creature handed the Doctor a black cube before pressing a button on its control device. 

In the blink of an eye Graham, Ryan, the Doctor, and Yaz were all standing back on the rocky landscape. 

“What are you going to do with that, Doctor?” Yaz questioned as they made their way back to the TARDIS.

“It depends,” she turned to look at Graham and Ryan, “do you two want a recording of your dreams?”

“Nah, that’d be weird.” Ryan shook his head and stepped a little faster to walk alongside Yaz. 

“I don’t know Doc. On the one hand, I would give anything to have it but on the other,” he shrugged, “I think it would hurt me, you know. I don’t know if having a dream of my greatest desire would be a good thing. What if it stopped me from seeing what’s really here? Living in the moment with you and Ryan and Yaz?” He gestured towards the two friends walking in front of him.

“Mmmm.” The Doctor looked down at the black cube in her hands. Quickly pocketing it she plastered a fake smile across her face. Taking a few quick steps, she stood before the trio with her hand on the TARDIS door. Pushing it open she threw out her hand towards the TARDIS console, “Beach anyone?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading.  
> I hope you have an awesome day,  
> JBeans


End file.
